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The world is due to end Dec. 21, according to one interpretation of the ancient Mayan calendar, and people around the world are preparing for the worst. A Chinese man has spent $160,000 building a functioning ark capable of surviving a global flood; an Ontario man is renting out space in a labyrinthine underground bunker system he built using dozens of decommissioned school buses; and a New England mom is stockpiling honey bees, which she expects to be adopted as currency once civilization collapses.

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If you can't see yourself doing a job five years from now, then you're not serious about it and probably won't achieve success, Steve Pavlina writes. "If you want to dabble for the sake of exploration, that’s fine," he writes. "Then when you’re ready to get serious, commit to building something that endures, and don’t even think about quitting during the first year."

In the U.S., men spend an average of 5 hours and 8 minutes a day working for pay, while women spend about 4 hours and 2 minutes, according to an Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development report. But when unpaid activities such as child care or housework are factored in, women on average spend much more time working -- a trend seen worldwide, the report finds.

Some of the best ways to turn your seasonal job into a full-time position include expressing your desire to stay, being flexible with your time, working hard and being friendly, experts say. "Always remember, people prefer to work with people they like and respect," says leadership strategist Nicole Lipkin.

SmartBrief, the Wall Street Journal At Work blog and 99U are among the blogs you should be following on Twitter, Ritika Trikha writes. "Simply create a private list and label it 'career blogs,' " she advises.

The world is due to end Dec. 21, according to one interpretation of the ancient Mayan calendar, and people around the world are preparing for the worst. A Chinese man has spent $160,000 building a functioning ark capable of surviving a global flood; an Ontario man is building a labyrinthine underground bunker system using dozens of decommissioned school buses; and a New England mom is stockpiling honey bees, which she expects to be adopted as currency once civilization collapses.